The greatest action ever for the protection of Mother Earth took place
in 166 countries, September 21. We were half-a-million people filling
streets in some 3000 events (a few, the day before).

Three hundred thousand marched in New York City, the city where some 125
heads of states were to meet on September 23. Among many celebrities and
politicians participating was UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He had
called for the UN summit, the first in which so many heads of state were
to attend since the COP15 fiasco held in Copenhagen, December 2009. At
that time 100,000 people marched demanding that the politicians do something
significant. That had been the largest action until now. Since that time
nothing of consequence has been forthcoming from the politicians and the
corporations that damage our lives and the planet.

Other large demonstrations took place in London (40,000), Melbourne (30,000),
Paris (25,000), Berlin (15,000). Between 1000 and 1500 people demonstrated
in Copenhagen. The organizers here, as in other cities, were from the
online petition group Avaaz. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/event/climate/Peoples_Climate_March_919

Among the speakers were the winners of WWF’s 2013 writing contest
concerning climate change. The three female university students, Hald-Busch-Jensen,
wrote their statement for political leaders.

“We are scared; scared that you, our leaders, only hold your own
short-term agenda in mind, and do not consider which consequences your
actions may have. We stand on the sideline, puzzled, when the leaders
of the world hesitate to do what is necessary, to reach a sustainable
basis for life.

We have a distinct appeal to you. You have to act, so your grandchildren
also get the possibility to enjoy clean water, breath clean air and
walk in the wild nature.

We all agree, that the path we are following now, will lead to a dead
end. So we ask you to use the analyses, action plans and reports. Science
is useless, if it is not followed by political will.

We want you to live up to your responsibility, as a real leader must
do – do this for us, and the generations to come.”
http://www.wwf.dk/succeser/gift_to_the_earth/vindertale.cfm

Mickey Gjerris, a theologian and member of the Danish Ethical Council,
was among the speakers. He emphasized that while he was non-violent,
as was the demonstration, he believed that it time to throw stones,
metaphorically.

H e urged corporations and politicians to put their houses in order;
he also sought to stoke the fire in each of our hearths.

“We are all responsible. Most of us, however, are hypocritical
in our actions or, rather, inactions. We live no impact lives. It is
time to change ourselves.”

Gjerris reminded me of the Danish theologian K.E. Løstrup whose
most important work, “The Ethical Demand”, outlines how
we are in one another’s hands. These Nordic theologian philosophers
are akin to the German Martin Niemöller who meant that we must
act in solidarity with all oppressed peoples. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
). If we lived thusly our Mother Earth would not be suffering as it
is, nor would we have the wars and avaricious economy that we live under
today.
A new economic system and an end to wars is necessary

About one-third of the more than 1000 organizations involved in the
climate actions around the world agreed to sign a declaration, on September
16. It is, in my view, the most powerful and important statement to
date concerning what must be done and not done about climate change.
Among the better known groups are: La Via Campesina, ATTAC (France),
and Global Justice Alliance (US). The essence of this statement was
inspired, in part, by the world conference held in April, 2010, in Bolivia.
It was called together by President Evo Morales following the disaster
in Copenhagen the previous December. Here are extracts, including their
10-point program.

“The [climate] Summit has been surrounded by a lot of fanfare
but proposes voluntary pledges for emission cuts, market-based and destructive
public-private partnership initiatives such as REDD+, Climate-Smart
Agriculture and the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. These are
all false solutions of the green economy that seeks to further commodify
life and nature and further capitalist profit. The undersigned social
movements that all together represent more than 200 million people around
the world denounce this corporate take over of the UN and the climate
negotiations process and call for a deep systemic change.” http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/-climate-change-and-agrofuels-mainmenu-75/1664-invitation-to-sign-on-statement-to-denounce-corporate-takeover-of-climate-summit

“Climate change is the result of an unjust economic system and
to deal with the crisis, we must address the root causes and change
the system. There will be no going back from the climate chaos if we
do not fight for real solutions and do nothing to confront and challenge
the inaction of our governments’ policy-making being hijacked
by polluting corporations. It is crucial for us to unify and strengthen
our economic, social and environmental struggles and focus our energies
on changing the capitalist system.”

“Scientists have clearly traced the problem of increasing greenhouse
gas emissions back to the industrial revolution 250 years ago while
tracking the spurt that has taken place during the past century. From
this analysis, it is clear that the industrial model of increased extraction
and productivism for the profit of a few is the prime cause of the problem.
We need to replace capitalism with a new system that seeks harmony between
humans and nature and not an endless growth model that the capitalist
system promotes in order to make more and more profit. We need a system
that links climate change and human rights and provides for the protection
of most vulnerable communities like migrants, and recognizes the rights
of Indigenous peoples.

“Mother Earth and her natural resources cannot sustain the consumption
and production needs of this globalized modern industrialized society.
We require a new system that addresses the needs of the majority and
not of the few. To move in this direction, we need a redistribution
of the wealth that is now controlled by the 1%. In turn, this requires
a new definition of wellbeing and prosperity for all life on the planet
under the limits and in recognition of the rights of our Mother Earth
and Nature.”

Mobilize and organize to Stop and Prevent Planet Fever!

Make immediate binding commitments — not voluntary pledges
— to control planetary temperature rise to no more than 1.5ºC
[2.7 ºF] this century by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions
per year to 38 Gigatons by 2020.

Let the Earth rest by making binding commitments to leave more than
80% of known fossil fuel reserves under the soil and beneath the ocean
floor.

Move away from resource extractivism by placing bans on all new exploration
and exploitation of oil, bitumen sands, oil shale, coal, uranium, and
natural gas including pipeline infrastructure like Keystone XL.

Accelerate the development and transition to renewable energy alternatives
such as wind, solar, geothermal and tidal power with more public and
community ownership and control.

Promote local production and consumption of durable goods to satisfy
the fundamental needs of the people and avoid the transport of goods
that can be produced locally.

Stimulate the transition from industrialized, export-oriented agriculture
for the global supermarket to community-based production to meet local
food needs based on food sovereignty.

Adopt and apply Zero Waste strategies for the recycling and disposal
of trash and the retrofitting of buildings to conserve energy for heating
and cooling.

Improve and expand public transportation for moving people and freight
within urban centres and between cities within urban regions through
efficient trains.

Develop new sectors of the economy designed to create new jobs that
restore the balance and equilibrium of the Earth system such as climate
jobs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Earth restoration jobs.

Dismantle the war industry and military infrastructure in order to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions generated by warfare, and divert war budgets
to promote genuine peace.